Croods: Dawn of the Tenties
by OmniverseGazer
Summary: The arrival of a new group has stirred up trouble in AAAH Valley. Will this be a good change or is their trpuble around the corner? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1

(Have you ever had a day in your life where everything changed forever? I have. Hi my name is Eep Crood. I'm going to tell you the story about my home, AAAH valley. I know it's a weird name but it's not like I picked it. It was named after the last words of its founder, who forgot to check if anyone was already living here. Life here in the valley can be… hard, but what matters most is having people to watch your back.)

A rock moved away from a large pile of stones and made way to a sight of a group of lyoties chewing on bones. They looked at the large hole before a large man came out whooping hollering while flailing his arms to scare them off and sent the lyoties running. "Ah, today looks like another good day." the large man said stretching his arms.

"Grug look out!" called a female voice before something small and fast came barreling out of the cave towards him.

He turned before it knocked him over on his back while feeling it start biting at his head. "Sandy." he said before pulling a baby girl off his head and held her by the scruff. "We talked about this, daddy's head is not prey."

She let out a growl while reaching for him as he stood back up and held her out before a woman walked out.

"Oh how cute, she's trying to assert her dominance." the woman said before taking the from her husband. "That's my girl."

"She's an early bloomer Ugga." The large man said. "Not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He muttered quietly.

"Don't worry Sandy, someday you'll be ready to hunt prey all you want." smiled Ugga tickling her daughter's belly.

The baby giggled and squirmed in her mothers arm.

"Oh and Grug you forgot your power carcass." Ugga said to him holding out a dead, and flattened beaver.

"Right!" he said before taking it and stuffed it in his pelt by the tail. "Thanks, that would have been embarrassing. How do I look?"

"Like a real hunter. Fierce and intimidating."

"Thanks, maybe this'll make the prey run off scared, making it way easier." he said before kissing his wife.

"Uh mom, Gran's sleep hunting again." Said a rotund boy walking out dragging a sleeping old woman who was gnawing at his backside.

"Try to play dead and then she'll think she's won." the woman said.

"Okay." he said before dropping face first into the dirt and went totally limp. The old woman slowly stopped biting and smiled before letting go and rolled off him.

"Hehehe, I win." The woman spoke in her sleep.

"Eep! Come on honey you'll be late for school." Grug called towards the cave.

"Be out in a sec! I'm just trying on my new tiger pelt!" called a girl's voice before footsteps came out with another girl. "Ready!"

"Oooh Eep you look good in Tiger, very fierce." Ugga said looking over her eldest daughter.

"Thanks mom, I wanted to try something new out for once." she said looking down at the pelt.

"Just as long as it doesn't attracted the one thing I hate the most." Grug stated.

"Bear owls?" Eep asked.

"No, boys." he said with a deep tone and narrowed eyes.

"Dad." she groaned with an eye roll.

"Ugh are you still doing that eye roll thing pat made?"

"There aren't even any boys I like, anymore." she stated to her father.

"I just don't want you on go through that whole 'crush' thing again." Grug said as he moved beside her.

"Dad! Can we please not bring that up?" Eep shrunk not wanting to relieve the embarrassing time she tried crushing people with a rock.

"Grug shouldn't you get going to the meeting rock?" Ugga questioned.

"Right, the Valley Leaders work is never done." he said puffing out his chest, "well except for night when the moon comes out, I really hate that guy." he said and looked up at the moon giving him the stink eye.

"Bye guys." waved Eep running out. "Come on Thunk, if we're late Teacher Squawk will put us in Deep Trouble."

"Coming!" he called running after her just as Gran began to wake up.

"Huh," she blinked and looked around. "How'd I get outside?"

"You were sleep hunting mom, again." Ugga said to her mother. "I need to head out to gather, you look after Sandy."

"Oh alright, but if she tries to bury my cane again we're gonna have a problem." the woman said using her cane to pick up the wild child by the pelt.

Eep and Thunk hurried off to school when Eep was pounced on by a girl with long dark hair, in a purple pelt and buck teeth. "Hi Eep!"

"Hey Lerk." Eep greeted one of her closest friends while on her back and blew a little hair from her face

"Are you ready for today's lesson?" Lerk asked jumping off Eep and let her stand up.

"It all depends on the lesson." Eep replied and dusted herself off.

"Did you get a new pelt?" Lerk asked moving around Eep and rubbing the fur. "It's nice."

"Yup, and it's totally me." she said with a smile while posing. "I hope it lasts me for a while."

"Uh guys, class?" Thunk reminded pointing off in the distance.

"Oh, right! Let's go." Eep dashed off with the others behind her.

Meanwhile over at the meeting rock Grug was speaking with most prominent inhabitants of the valley

"Okay everyone settle down, settle. First order of business, yesterday we only lost two people on the hunt, an all time best if I do say so myself." he smiled at them. "However, that means we're gonna need to really pick up the slack until we can get more people, but that does mean extra food for everyone. We're gonna have to take a few cuts from the bait's share."

That got him a few groans.

"I know, but with super Predator season around the corner we can't afford to be reckless. Unless you want to be a Teranacondas lunch. Trust me it's worse than you might think."

That got them grumbling, but complying from the group who did admit it made sense.

"Alright then, now would anyone else like to say something?" he asked befor a hairy arm came up. "Ho boy. Yes, Old man Root."

"I sensed a change in the wind," the hairy said man looking left and right. "somethin's comin' towards the Valley. Somethin' none of us has ever seen before."

"You said that last week and all we got was a slight cool breeze." Grug replied.

"This time is different." he said with a hardened look. "I seen black clouds floatin' up to the sky every morning for the past few days now and they were closer each time."

"Uh huh, well right now we worry about hunting, then worry about dark little clouds." he said before looking to a rather slender caveman fussing with his hair. "Snoot how good is Bulk at hunting?"

"He's somewhat below average," Snoot replied with a dull tone. "not like Sulk with all his powerful muscles."

"Wait, isn't Bulk the big one?" Grug questioned raising his eyebrow.

"No he's the smaller moodier one," snoot corrected. "with the skunk pelt and the bones stuck through his ears."

"Then why name him Bulk?" Grug asked and scratched his head.

"We had high expectations since he was born first, okay." Snoot said crossing his arms in irritation. "Let's just agree the names stuck and get on with this thing."

"Okay, Snoot I want your sons on the hunting field tomorrow, the bigger one will be a hunter and smaller one will be bait."

"But they have school tomorrow." Snoot countered.

"Not anymore." he remarked. "Hunting for food is more important than school, unless you'd rather be bait and get a smaller portion than average."

"They'll be on the field first thing in the morning." Snoot said quickly with a nervous smile on his face.

"Good, and Amber I want you to teach Snoot's bigger son how to bonk." Grug said pointing to a blonde woman with a rock in one of her eyes.

"Amber can do that no problem. Have Pat join in to so she take over family job one day." the woman replied. "Maybe you have Eep join hunt too."

"Nononono no." Grug said shaking his head. "Uh uh, not gonna happen."

"Oh really?" frowned Snoot. "Why can't your daughter join if our kids are going to participate?"

"Well Eep is...well Eep." he replied. "She's not hunter material. We all now how she can be, she's a delicate thing."

At school Eep yelled out as she was flailing about while trying to hold on to a Ramu as it ran around. "Calm down!"

"Well done Eep, don't let go!" called a man with purple hair sitting on a rock with a stick in its hand. "If you lose my lunch you fail the test and be sent to Deep Trouble like all the rest." he said pointing his stick at a hole in the ground with a pair of jaws at the edges.

"Go Eep!" Thunk called.

"You can do it!" added Lerk.

"No talking in deep trouble." the teacher frowned before snapping his fingers which was followed by his pet lizvult dumping spiderants into the hole.

"AHH!" they cried out as the creatures crawled over them and the sadistic teacher laughed at their misery.

"I got it Teacher Squawk!" Eep called out while trying to keep her grip.

"Ramu are fast, but the more they run the faster they tire out, it also helps tenderize them too." smiled the man licking his lips as the animal ran around in circles, zigzags, and even serpentined. Yet Eep would not let go. "Try harder!"

"Come on...just slow down already!"

"Ooh I can tell this one's going to be particularly tasty." The man smiled before the ramu charge at him. He let out a girlish scream and ducked behind the rock as the horned bird ran off. "Eep, come back!" he cried out "I want to eat that Ramu!"

"I can't!" she yelled as they got further away.

"Oh boy," Squawk said growing nervous. "okay, no big deal Squawk. You only lost the Valley leaders daugher, you've covered up worse, right?" he asked before looking over to Deep Trouble. "Then again, maybe hiding down there for a few week or two might not be a bad idea. Just in case...oh students." he said in the hole. "I have an assignment for….extra credit, alright? You have to pretend Eep was absent today, in return no deep trouble for anyone, for a few days."

"Ok!" The students said in unison.

Meanwhile Eep was still clinging to the Ramu as it ran up stream and out of the valley. "Come on! Why won't you just stop already?" she questioned as it thrashed and bucked violently. "I'm not letting go! Ngh! So you might as well give up! It'll take a lot more to shake me off!

It snarled and kept going while trying to bash her against some of the rocks yet she hissed yet still held on despite the nicks and scratches. The ramu reached the limits of its patient and flipped on it's back and tried to flatten her. She lost her grip and it rolled off her.

"Gah, ow. Okay that was a good move." she winced and rolled on to her stomach, before looking at the enraged creature as it hissed at her. "Uh, you're not gonna take that all personally, right?"

It scratched at the ground and charged as it screeched.

Eep curled up into a ball waiting for the attack when suddenly the creature was snagged by vines and seemingly jumped out and wrapped around it.

"Huh?" Eep looked up in confusion as it was pulled back and out of the trees came a group of animals. But unlike the animals she usually saw these animals stood on two legs and were talking.

"Hold it down!" a wolf called out to wildcat. "Don't let it get away!"

"I'm on it." spoke the wildcat holding the animal down with it's body.

"Wha…" Eep got out as she watched them subdue and bind up the Ramu, leaving it to struggle, before they moved aside and a Warthog jumped on it holding a sharp rock in front of its eye. The rock was moved to its horn and dragged against it making the Ramu shudder and stop fighting.

The warthog raised up the rock before the other animals raised their arms up and cheered.

Eep gulped and was completely shocked before the warthog looked at her then jumped off and moved slowly towards her. She began to panic and move her battered body back if fear. Suddenly it pushed its head up to reveal a boy's head underneath, looking at her with an inquisitive expression.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked as Eep looked up in a astonishment. This was a creature she had never seen before.

He smiled before reaching out to her. She saw another furrier head look at her from his waist and reacted the way any rational cavegirl would, she kicked him back sending him to the dirt with an 'oof' before the others rushed over to help

She ignored the pain in her body and scrambled to get away. But, having forgotten about the nearby river, she accidentally fell in and was swept away by the current. "Ahhhhh Help me!" she cried out struggling against the current trying to stay afloat as she watched them getting further away.

Her struggle seemed never ending until the water poured over a cliff and she fell into the valley swimming hole. After surfacing she coughed and gagged while swimming to the shore and collapsed huffing and puffing to try and catch her breath. "What...was that?" she questioned and looked up at the falls.

(Later back at School)

"I'm getting tired of this Squawk." Said Grug holding the teacher by his pelt as he glared. "Where. Is. Eep?"

"Better talk." said Amber standing next to Snoot. "You know how Grug get about daughter."

"I keep telling you she never showed up for class today!" He lied and pointed to the children. "Ask my students, they'll tell you the same thing."

"Thunk." Grug said looking at his son. "Where's Eep?"

"Uhhhh…" he spoke looking anywhere but his dad nervously as he tried to think up an excuse.

"Thunk, tell me the truth." Grug spoke in a demanding tone.

The boy gulped and grew nervous before seeing his sister approach. "Oh, there she is dad! safe and sound."

Grug turned and smiled. "Eep! Oh thank goodness, I was wor-wait, why are you wet? And are those scratches!?"

"Don't worry dad, I'm fi-Ahh!" She winced and held her side.

Grug ran over and looked her over with a frown. "They are. Eep what happened? Tell me everything."

"We'll see, I was trying to catch this Ramu, I held on as it ran out of the valley-"

"You tried catching a Ramu AND you went outside the valley!?" he spoke up in shock before turning to the teacher. "Did you know about this?"

"Uh eheheh, possibly?" he spoke nervously while backing up.

Grug growled and turned back to Eep. "Eep, if there's two things I don't want you doing, it's hunting, and going outside the valley."

"But dad-"

"No buts," he said to his daughter before grabbing her arm and dragged her away. "I'm taking you home right now. You too Thunk, let's go."

"Yay!" cheered his son as he followed his dad and sister.

"Amber, Snoot, I'll be down at the hunting field tomorrow to see how things are going." Grug finished before taking his children home.


	2. Chapter 2

"So...you went outside the valley?" Ugga asked her daughter, trying to keep a neutral expression, while Gran held onto Sandy.

"Not by choice, the Ramu carried me out." Eep spoke in defence.

"Well why didn't you just let go?" Grug asked with his hands on his hips.

"Seriously, you think Eep would do something like let her prey get away?" Gran asked picking up sandy with her cane. "Ha! That's a good one. She's the stubbornest member of this family. She's not just gonna 'let go'."

"And I saw something REALLY weird too. Animals standing on two legs, a wolf, a wildcat, oh and a warthog that turned into a boy."

"A boy?" Ugga Questioned with her interests peaked.

"Huh, that's strange, usually it's the reverse." Gran threw in while scratching her head.

"More like completely ridiculous." spoke Grug. "Animals don't turn into people. Obviously you hit your head and imagined the whole thing."

"But dad I really did see it and he had this third head with fur on his waist." Eep spoke up.

"Eep, that's enough." her father spoke up. "Whatever it was, the fact is it was outside the valley means it was probably dangerous. You're lucky to have gotten away or who knows what might have happened to you. Its that kind of reckless behavior that proves you're not ready to be a hunter."

"Speaking of which, why are you meeting Snoot and Amber at the hunting field tomorrow?" Eep asked rasing an eyebrow. "I mean Amber I understand, but Snoot?"

"If you must know, since we lost a few hunters yesterday, I put their kids on hunting duty." Grug spoke before the rest of the family went wide and they covered their ears.

"WHAT!" Eep exclaimed.

"What? We needed the extra hands." stated grug. "I thought they might be able to help."

"So you gave the jobs to Pat, Bulk, and Sulk!?" Eep questioned in outrage. "Pat's a total slacker, Bulk doesn't care about anything but being different, and Sulk...he's a rock head!"

"Perhaps, but they all know how to what they're told and follow directions." Grug countered.

"I could be just as good a hunter then any of them!" boasted Eep with a frown on her face.

"You're not ready, and after what happened today, I don't think you ever will be."

Those words hit Eep hard.

"Grug!" Ugga scolded. "That's going too far."

"Well I'm sorry Ugga, but it's the truth." Grug said firmly.

"I know that, but you don't have to say it like that?" Ugga added making Eep's jaw go slack.

"Mom!? Are you saying I'm not cut out to be a hunter too?"

"Well...look Eep, maybe you should just take some time to cool off. Learn not to just jump in when you feel like it. Boys do like a girl who knows how to cook." Ugga said before trying to reach out to her eldest daughter.

"Forget it." she backed away and walked away from them with a frown, she went over to an empty corner in the cave and curled up into a ball. "I'm sleeping here for the night." she said angrily.

"Eep-" Ugga said wanting to go to her but Grug grabbed her shoulder and shook his head.

"Let's just let her work it out a little, she'll be fine in no time."

"Yeah, right." Gran remarked. "I use to say that for Ugga all the time, but she'd always go off and whine for a few days. The last time was right before she ended up with you."

"Mom, you're not helping."

"Who said I was trying to." she replied with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

That night the family was piled up and fast asleep, all except for Eep who was having trouble getting comfortable.

She tossed and turned in the corner while feeling cold from lack of shared body heat. She was tempted to go over and join her family but she was still mad at her father. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to rub them and closing her eyes. Suddenly light shined in through the cracks of the door and over her eyes.

"Huh wha- it can't be day time already?" she said before watching the light move around the cave floor. "What the….?" she moved from her spot and reached out to grab it when suddenly it moved away. "Hey." she rushed around and tried to catch it but somehow it eluded her grasp. "Stop moving light." she said angrily before finally putting her hand on it, but to her confusion it somehow got on the back of her palm. "Huh?" she mover her hand around and followed the beam to the crack in the stone door it's shined out of. "What is that?"

Her family made small sounds while she huffed and tried grabbing the door before pulling, but it didn't move. She groaned and managed to move it just enough so she could look outside. What she saw was one of the two legged animals from before only now it was holding a small sun on a stick. Her eyes widened while blown away and had to cover her mouth. 'No, they must have followed me. The animal walked away and left Eep breathing heavily quickly moved to the sleep pile, to wake them. "Dad! Dad wake up!" she said urgently but quietly and she shook him. "Two legger! Get up!"

Grug groaned and opened his eyes. "Eep? Wha...What's the matter?"

"One of the two legger! It's in the Valley, right outside the cave, and it had the sun in its hand." she said.

"Oh Eep, it was probably a bad dream. Go back to sleep." he said turning his head and closing his eyes.

"But-"

"Grug! Grug!" Came the voice of a panicking Snoot as he started beating in the door.. "Danger in the Valley! Wake up!"

The family all woke up as Grug sat up and ran to open the door. "What's wrong?"

"Two legged animals, one was right outside your cave just moments ago, holding a...a... baby sun." Snoot said in worry.

Grug blinked with a dumbstruck expression and looked back at Eep who had an 'I told you so' look and let out a "Mhm" with her arms crossed. "Wait, hold on. You sure YOU weren't just having some weird dream too?"

"I was standing outside my cave when I saw it." he said pointing at the cave on the hill above. "It went down into the Valley with the others of its pack. Look for yourself." Snoot then pointed to the high up cave.

Grug looked and saw light coming from down in the valley then pushed Snoot aside and went over. He narrowed his eyes while seeing the trail of light move farther away. "Let's go." Grug spoke to Snoot before they went off after it.

They followed the light and hid behind a rock before Grug peaked out. He gasped as he saw them, animals walking on two legs. The were making odd nests made from other animals pelts held up by sticks and at the center was a sun in a nest of sticks. "Eep was right, they do walk on two legs."

"Told you so." said girl said as she peeked out next to Grug.

"Eep!?" he blurted quietly and pulled her back. "What are you doing here?"

"You said 'let's go'." she replied pointing a finger at him.

"Yeah, 'let's go' as in me and Snoot, I didn't say you could come." he shot back.

"Well….you didn't say I couldn't." she shrugged.

"She's right dad." said Thunk as he walked up along with the rest of the Crood family.

"What? I didn't...you should….ugh! Fine, just keep it down." he instructed before looking back out.

Suddenly they saw a Ramu walking up with vines tied to its horns and the warthog riding on its back with more in the same position not far behind. The other animals cheered at their arrival.

Eep recognized it as the Ramu she attempted to catch and climbed on a ledge for a better look as her family and Snoot watched the spectacle.

"What are they doing dad?" Thunk asked his father.

"I'm not sure son." Grug stated as the Warthog hopped off the Ramu and a wolf walked over and put its paws on the Warthogs shoulder before it looked out to the other animals.

"My son!" the wolf proclaimed to them while grsturing to the warthog.

The others of the packed whooped and hollered while the cavemen were left in confusion and shock.

"They can talk!? Wait, so that warthog came from the wolf?" spoke Thunk rubbing his head. "How does that work?"

"Must be some crazy breeding with these animals." Gran tossed in. "They're getting weirder and weirder every year."

Eep tilted her head and leaned in before the ledge gave way. The girl screamed getting everyone's attention as she rolled out in between the families hiding spot and the animals.

The next thing she knew they were screaming. Many of the animals ran away in terror while others grabbed sticks.

Grug ran out and grabbed Eep. "Are you okay?" he asked and got a nod before the animals gathered in a defensive position with their sticks held up.

"Grab some rocks!" spoke Snoot as the others grabbed the closest rock they could grab.

"Wait!" yelled out the warthog as he ran in front of the crowd of animals and looked at Eep. "Tiger girl?" he asked before pushing up on its head to show the boy head underneath.

"It is you!" Eep gawked with her father.

"Ahh! It turned into a boy!" screamed Thunk dropping his rock in horror.

"Now that's something you don't see every day." Ugga spoke looking out at them.

"Quick! Let's bonk it before it attacks." whispered Snoot.

"No!" Ugga stopped him "lets see how this plays out."

"I was hoping I'd see you again." said the boy...hog. "I didn't really get your name."

"I….I'm Eep." she said and stretched out her hand only for it to be grabbed by a small furry arm. "Huh, aaah!" she screamed and pulled back her hand. "What is that!?"

"Oh sorry, this is my pal Belt." he said as the small creature looked at her. "Cook, conversationalist, and helps keep my pants up."

It waved while Eep blinked and tried to wrap her mind around that. "What are pants up?" Eep questioned.

"Guy, what are you doing? They're... Cavies." said the wildcat from before while whispering the last word.

"I don't know, she seems alright." the one called Guy said before Grug moved his daughter behind him and growled at them before roaring out gibberish while flailing his fists and tried to scare them back. "Woah woah, easy there big guy." the boy said before the wolf stepped up and pushed up its own head to show a man with auburn hair and a strong clefted chin.

"Get away from my son, you hairy beast!" the man said looking ready to start a fight.

"You're calling me a beast?" Grug questioned. "You're the animals here Wolf-man."

"I'm not a wolf-man, I'm a regular man, something I can't say the same for you."

"Dad stop!" both Eep and Guy yelled together before they looked at each other.

"Wait, that's your dad?" questioned Guy.

"Erm...Yeah." she said rubbing her arm feeling somewhat awkward.

"What are you and your animal friends doing in our valley?" frowned Grug.

"We are not animals." said the man beating a hand on his chest. "I am Chief, leader of this tribe, and master of the hunt."

"Well I am Grug, leader of AAAH Valley," he said causing the visitors to jump a the 'AAAH' part "and I'M the master of the hunt around here."

"So this valley is already populated." Chief said before sighing. "Looks like we'll need to keep moving." he said to his people.

This got groans and whines from the people ot the others of the tribe.

"No dad, we just got here." Guy spoke pleadingly. "We've been walking all day since dawn. Not to mention supplies are low, we're almost out of water, and everyone is tired. We need to rest."

"I'm sorry son, but we can't just intrude somewhere if there are already people here, especially Cavies." spoke his dad with reluctance.

"But dad-"

"Guy is right." spoke another voice.

The crowd parted and a balding elderly man hobbled out with a bushy unibrow and a blue pelt his hands folded behind his back. "We must stay my son, if we continue now we will most certainly lose some of our fellow tribesmen to exhaustion and hunger."

"But father, it'd be intruding, and hard to stomach."

"Perhaps, but we have very little choice." The elderly man said before approaching Grug. "Good sir, I implore you, allow us to stay here, you seem to have plenty of room here."

"I don't know." Grug said looking at them.

"Oh come on Grug." Said Ugga stepping out with Sandy in her arms. "They're desperately in need of help. Sure they might seem... different, but we probably look just as different to them. Hi, Ugga Crood, you already kinda met my eldest daughter Eep, this is Sandy."

Said baby let out gibberish while gnashing her teeth and giggling.

"And hiding behind the rock is my son Thunk and my mother Gran."

"Way to rat us out Ugga!" Gran spoke angrily.

"Uh, hey." waved Thunk awkwardly.

"And of course there's our neighbor Snoot."

"I'm not with them!" he called out before running off.

"A pleasure to meet you Ma'am," said the old man with a smile. "I am Pops, elder and keeper of our tribes history." He said as the two stepped out begrudgingly "Such a lovely family." Pops nodded. "You already know my son Chief and of course my grandson Guy."

"Um, question." Thunk spoke raising his hand. "How do you turn into animals?"

"We don't turn into them, we just wear their pelts to help conceal our faces." Guy put his back on. "See? We call them masks. They also provide a small amount of protection from the weather, like staying dry in the rain."

"That's impossible. When it rains we get wet." spoke Grug like it was obvious. "You can't just walk around dry in the rain."

"You'd be surprised." Pops said. "My grandson is always coming up with new ideas that often prove beneficial."

"Is it how you have baby suns?" asked Eep marveling at the source of light.

"That's not a sun, that's fire." Guy replied. "We make it."

"And it's our tribes most treasured secret." Said Chief with a stern tone. "Only we know how to harness it, and it will stay that way. Giving such knowledge to you would be...unwise. it will only lead to disaster if you can't control it."

"You must forgive my son, sometimes the duties of leadership often cloud his manners."

"I can tell." remarked Grug with a frown.

"However he is correct, Fire is too dangerous to be left in the hands of those who can't fully control its awesome power."

"Oh come on, it can't be that hard." spoke Gran with a wave of her hand. "It's hot, it goes up in the sky, what else is there to know?"

"If left unchecked it could very well destroy anything in it's path. Especially anything dry and withered."

"Hear that Gran," Grug smiled. "Better stay back."

"I could say the same about that thing you call a head." she shot back and whacked him with her cane.

"Ow!" He rubbed the spot while they glared at each other and Guy chuckled before looking at Eep and smiled.

Said girl blushed and looked away with a shy smile.

"Please Grug, let them stay." Ugga spoke. "It would be nice to have some fresh faces."

"Yeah, plus I wanna try and see what wearing one of those...masks is like." spoke Thunk.

"Ugh, okay fine. Cheif, you and your...tribe can stay, but you can't stay here, we need this path. There's an open clearing on the other side of the valley, you can stay there."

"Fair enough, thank you." Chief nodded before looking to his people. "Everyone, gather your belongings. We have a little more walking to do before we can rest our heads for the night."

They nodded and moved to grab their stuff while the large fire was buried in dirt. Guy and Eep kept looking at each other before the former spoke up. "It was… nice to see you made it home alright."

"Thanks, and it was nice meeting you and your family." Eep replied.

"Will I see you again tomorrow?" He asked.

"Well I have to go foraging with my mom so...I don't know." She said twirling some of her hair with her finger.

"Maybe I can come with and help out." he offered.

"Guy! Let's go!" called the boy's father.

"See ya around Eep." He said before handing her a pink shell. "Call me." He said quietly."

"Call you?" she looked confused as he turned and they headed off.

"Just blow into it. If I hear it I'll come find you." He said to her.

"Oh, alright." she replied, still confused how that would work.

The Croods went back to their cave with Eep looking at the shell.

'That was really sweet of him.' she thought and went back to her spot on the cave floor.

"Ugh, I hope they get lost as soon as possible." groaned her dad.

"You barely know anything about them." Ugga said. "I'm sure if you got to know them you'd see they're not so bad."

"I don't get what's so wrong." spoke Thunk. "They're nice people, right?"

"That's what we thought about the Broods." Grug said pointing to a cave paint on the wall that depicted humans with fuzzy arms, legs, and even tails. "And we all remember how that turned out."

That made all of them shudder.

"The nightmares still haunt me." Thunk muttered.

"I'm just saying we need to be careful who we trust, mostly people from outside the Valley."

"But Guy looked really nice, plus you heard what his dad's dad said, he can think up new stuff. Maybe some of those ideas can help around the valley?" Eep spoke fiddling with the shell.

"Eep that's crazy, we're doing just fine on our own, and I doubt they have some 'secret' to making that so called 'fire'. Obviously the sun had babies and they kidnapped them. Hey maybe it will kill all them to rescue its young in the morning. Hahaha, now I might be able to get some sleep."

"Dad that's a horrible thing to say!"

"You'll understand when you're older honey." He said as the family got into a sleep pile. "Come on Eep, time for bed."

"I'm fine here, thanks." She frowned and laid on her side with her back to them.

"Oh come on, you can't still be mad, are you?" She said nothing before he groaned. "Fine, but if you change your mind just hop on in."

She didn't say anything as he shut the door and got in the pile while Eep looked at the shell, held it close and found it much easier to get to sleep then before with a smile on her face as she couldn't wait for tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day in AHH Valley, a meeting was held regarding the new residents and it was off to a rocky start. Everyone was talking all at once demanding to be heard.

"This is completely insane!"

"They can't stay here!"

"They're really weird!"

"Everyone! Calm down!" yelled out Grug banging a rock on his stand trying to get a word in. "QUIET!"

All of them slowly stopped and turned minus one guy who let out one more yell before abruptly stopping when he found everyone else do the same before Grug cleared his throat.

"Now I know this new arrangement might take some getting used to, but there's plenty of room in the valley for all of us, even new people we don't entirely trust yet. Now, are there any questions?"

"Yes, when are they going to leave?" frowned Snoot with his arms crossed and others nodding in agreement.

"Well they can stay as long as they don't cause any trouble." replied Grug before everyone voiced their disapproval. "BUT, if they prove to be a danger to our homes and our families we run them out like lyoties!"

"Amber all for it." smirked the woman smashing a rock on the ground into bits. "But Amber curious, are they people who change into animals, or animals who change into people?"

"Uh...I think it might be the second one?" Grug scratched his head. "I mean I guess they wear pelts like the rest of us only...differently."

"Well I think we can all agree that anything different, is better left alone." spoke Squawk. "Unless it fills my belly of course, can we eat them?"

"No, they're still people….at least I think so."

"Mhh, pitty." Squawk frowned before sitting back down, crossing his arms.

"Look as long as we can all get along with them I think this can work, and by 'I' I mean Ugga. So if this goes wrong we all know who to blame."

"Grug!" Ugga shouted making her husband flinch.

"Uh, I mean someone to thank if this works. Speaking of which we should get to our tasks." he cleared his throat. "Just because we have new neighbors doesn't mean we should get lazy and go hungry."

All the cave people grumbled as they dispersed from the meeting rock. Grug sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before looking over to his family.

"This is gonna take some time to adjust, but if we just keep to ourselves and do what we always do, then everything will be alright."

"Oh Grug, stop worrying," Ugga spoke as she walked up with Sandy in her arms. "I'm sure if you gave them a chance you might like them."

"Yeah, I mean you saw the stuff they had, it was real cool." smiled Eep.

"I'm still a little freaked out about their fire stuff though." Thunk stated.

"I don't trust it one bit, it's too bright." frowned Gran. "Makes my eyes get all watery and hard to see through, probably made to blind you before they swoop in and getcha!"

"Starting to wish I had some right now." Grumbled Grug before clearing his throat. "Okay Croods, you all know your assignments?"

"I look after Sandy while Ugga and Eep go gathering, I know." Gran rolled her eyes after using her walking to lift infant up by her pelt.

"And I'll be out hunting with the others bonkers and their kids." stated grug

"Which I should be doing." muttered Eep with a frown while looking away from him.

"I heard that Eep." Grug spoke grabbing her by the head and turned her to face him.

"Well it's the truth and you know it."

"Eep, we've been over this, you're gathering with your mother until you prove yourself, end of discussion."

The girl crossed her arms with a huff before her dad headed off and her mom patted her on the back.

"Thunk you're with me on hunting," Grug said. "we might need some extra bait on the off chance we lose Bulk."

"Thanks dad. I was afraid of being left at home with Gran and Sandy."

"You're taking Thunk hunting?!" Eep yelled.

"Yes, but only as a last resort. Bait just needs to look weak and vulnerable." Grug explained.

"But I can do that easy!" she said before thinking about what just came out of her mouth. "What am I thinking? No one wants to be bait."

"Look, just stick with gathering and I'll consider bringing you along, but no promises."

Eep crossed her arms and huffed before she and her mom went to join the other gatherers. She grumbled the whole way with a pouty face.

"Now Eep, you know that your father is just doing what he thinks is best." Ugga said to her daughter who looked away with a "hmph". 

"He's always like that no matter what I do."

Ugga reached for Eep's chin and made her daughter look back at her. "Listen to me Eep, the day you were born, Grug was the happiest and proudest caveman in the valley. But you were so small that he also worried a lot, he can't help but still see you as that little baby."

"But Sandy's the baby now, why can't he just worry about her?"

"Because Sandy is our third child, you were the first. Plus she's much bigger than you were and she's ferocious enough to where he doesn't need to worry."

"Well maybe if he bothered to let me be a bonker, he wouldn't need to worry. Seriously mom I'm not a baby anymore."

"Well your father is stubborn, but unless a chance comes up where you can show him wrong, you're just gonna have to wait it out." she said before she and her daughter walked into the other gatherers ahead of them. "Oh! Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you."

"What's the holdup?" questioned Eep.

"It's the new neighbors." spoke a portly cavewoman with dark hair pointing at their usual spot.

"Figures they'd move in to gather all of our food." stated a hunched over old man with haor hair before a woman with a white flowing white pelt, blue eyes, and blonde hair started making strange noises

Praise for the high tide

Praise for the seaside

Praise for the sun at high noon

Praise for the lightning

Praise for the singing

Praise the father sun

and sister moon.

"Mom, what's that weird noise she's making?" Eep asked.

"I'm not sure, but...its strangely soothing." Ugga replied with a smile.

Praise for the red dawn

Grass that we walk upon,

Praise for the rivers whispered tune

Praise for the wind brother

Praise for the earth mother

Praise the father sun and sister moon

Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya.

The crowd felt themselves transfixed on the sound with a few dropping their jaws.

"Wow, that sounds….beautiful." Ugga spoke before the woman noticed them.

"Oh! Hello there!" She waved to them. "I had no idea I had a crowd listening. Come, there's plenty for everyone." she gestured to the berries with her taking more and putting them in her bag. "Just be careful of the poison ones."

"Hold up there, just what are you doing in our gathering spot?" Spoke the portly woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't see anyone here so we assumed that it was an unmarked area. Don't worry we won't be coming here often" she smiled while picking a few more berries before looking at Eep. "Hey, aren't you Tiger girl?" she asked with a smile.

"Um, no, my name is Eep."

"Well you certainly look as Guy described." she remarked making Eep's eyes widen and perked up a little at the mention of the boy.

"You know Guy?"

"Of course, he's my son."

Eeps' mouth dropped while the woman smiled then looked at her bag.

"I'd say that's plenty, she said before turning to her group. "Alright everyone, let's head back."

The group obeyed and took their leave while the blonde woman looked back to Ugga and Eep. "It was nice seeing you all, may we all come together and live peacefully as time moves on."

"Oh you don't have to leave right away," Eep said standing in front of the woman. "right mom?"

"Yeah, I mean, now that we're neighbors, I don't see why you can't stick around a bit longer." smiled Ugga walking over. "My name's Ugga, I'm Eep's mom."

"I am called Willow." the woman stated.

"I gotta asked Willow, what was that weird noise you were making?"

"Oh! You mean my song? I was singing. My grandmother invented it."

"Sing-ing?" ugga tilted her head. "It sounded like noise, but...really nice and different." she spoke as the other gatherers walked by eyeing Willow cautiously.

"Anyone can do it, with practice." she smiled. "I could teach you later if you like."

"Uh yeah sure," spoke Eep before looking around.. "So... is Guy around?"

"Oh no, right now he's with his father and the other hunters." she said with a look of pride. "But they are close."

"Really! I mean, um, really? That's cool. My dad's a hunter too, they should be here soon." remarked Eep trying to sound calm and not get too excited.

Over at the hunting field not far off, Grug was addressing the new hunters and bait, Pat, Sulk, Bulk, and Thunk.

"Alright new hunters, and bait. I know the first day might seem a little overwhelming, but you need to focus. Any minute those mosquitoads are gonna come flying over the field and we need you to be on top of your game. Is that clear?"

"Whatever." remarked Bulk and Pat boredly.

"Yeah, woohoo!" Sulk whooped and hollard gleefully. "Let's bonk some prey!"

"This is gonna be great." smiled Thunk in excitement. "I can work on my shadow puppets until it's my turn to be bait."

"No wait, Thunk going up first." Amber spoke grabbing Thunk by the pelt and lifted him up. "Need lots of food for Valley, and Thunk look like he be good bait. Nice and plump."

"Aw man." groaned Thunk.

"Sounds good to me." muttered Pat with a smile.

"And Pat be first one to try and knock out prey before Thunk get eaten."

"Mom!" Groaned Pat as her mother shoved a rock in her arms.

"No take attitude with Amber." the woman frowned furrowing her brow. "You be Lead Hunter like Amber and like it."

"And that means you will help her if she's caught off guard." spoke Grug handing a rock to Sulk.

"Yeah!" Sulk cheered.

"Guess that means I can just sit this one out, cool." smiled Bulk.

"Okay bonkers, get ready! Here they come!" Called Grug.

The hunters got their rocks ready while Thunk was running around making noise in the field. Three mosquitoads locked onto them and flew down ready to grab him.

"Come on down! I'm all ready for lunch!" Thunk shouted.

Just as the hunters were about to bonk, the mosquitoads were struck by sticks that came flying out from another part of the grassy field and pierced them in vital areas. The hunters were surprised and looked down to see several animals with pointed sticks ride up on their ramu making Grug frown.

"Hey! That was our kill!" Grug shouted when Chief slowly rode up leaving most of the hunters slack jawed in fear at his size. Amber on the other hand felt like she'd swallowed a swarm of butterhummers.

"Apologies, but with so many predators together, we thought you may need some help keeping your bait alive." he said hoping off the creature who seemed relieved to have that weight off its back.

Amber made a goofy grin as he approached and started giggling like a teenage girl.

Pat snapped out of her bewildered gaze and looked to her mother. "Mom?" she spoke up raising an eyebrow, while Amber's one pupil turned into a red heart. "Are you feeling okay?"

Said woman kept staring at Chief who looked like the toughest man she had ever seen in her life, minus Pat's father. "Amber feel more than okay."

"Woah, are you seeing this Bulk!?" Sulk asked pointing to the new valley dwellers

"Yeah Sulk, ramu riding, now that is cool." smiled the smaller boy while Grug tried to frown and not seem impressed.

"Look, we didn't need any help, we had everything all covered." Grug spoke to Chief. "This is how we hunt."

"By using just rocks? What would you have done if you ran out and they just avoided them?"

"That's why we have these. Haha!" Grug said holding up his fist jabbed at the air.

"Your bare hands?" Chief questioned. "You should only do that while sparring with each other."

"Spar-what?"

"Dad." Guy spoke taking off his mask. "We don't have time for this, we need to get our kill back to camp before some other predator picks up the scent of blood." he spoke while Belt nodded.

"Good call Guy. everyone! Let's get these home!"

The other masked men nodded before they left their mounts and moved to remove the sticks and used vines to tie the dead mosquitoads to their ramu.

"What are you doing? Now the ramu are gonna run off with them." scoffed Grug with a shake of his head.

"Naw they know better, right Legs?" Guy said patting his ramu's side.

It let out a low hum while the vines were slowly finished being tied.

"Alright everyone let's move out!" Chief instructed

The hunters got back on the animals before they began to lug the mosquitoads away while Grug and the others were stunned.

"Such commanding voice." Amber swooned. "Such strong leader." she fell back with Pat catching her.

"Ugh! Mom!" groaned the girl under the weight.

"Wow." Eep smiled and looked at Willow. "No matter how many times I see you guys ride those things it still amazes me."

"Well it's all a matter of trust and teamwork." Willow spoke. "Ugga, why don't you and your family come to our camp, we can get to know each other better." suggested Willow with Eep liking the sound of that.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet new people." smiled Ugga while Grug himself glared at Chief and the other hunters while Amber stared at Chief with a smile with Pat waving a hand in her mother's face. "Grug! We're going to the new neighbors!" Ugga called to her husband.

"What?!" he screamed and ran up to her. "But Ugga we...we can't I mean...just look how filthy we are." He said trying to make an excuse knowing Ugga wasn't going to let it go without reason.

"Then we'll all get cleaned up when you get home and then head over."

"Oh that's great." Willow said. "It'll give me a chance to prepare."

Grug groaned to himself while Eep smiled.

(Later at the Crood cave)

"Run for your lives!" Shouted Gran trying to run out of the cave.

"Mom get back here!" Ugga shouted grabbing her mother's lizard pelt by the tail and dug her heels in the dirt. "We are all gonna get cleaned up, which means you too. You have ants."

"I don't want to lose my protective layer!" The old woman shouted. "You can't make me!"

"Grug, a little help please!?"

"Hold her still." he spoke walking over with a rock. "I don't wanna miss."

"Grug!" Ugga frowned at him. "Pick her up."

"Alright fine." he sighed tossing the rock aside before grabbing the pelt and picked Gran up who hit him with her stick. "Ow! Hey!"

"Asking your man for help, what kind of woman are you Ugga?!" Gran shouted in anger.

"You're the one being so stubborn mom." Ugga replied while Grug hung the old woman by her stick on a root. Ugga then grabbed another stick and beat the dirt off her mother. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it?"

"You would say that being the one holding the stick." Gran said before hopping down.

"Me next!" Eep said enthusiastically and jumped up to grab the root. "Come on, come on!"

"Wow Eep, you're pretty eager to get clean." Ugga chuckled.

"I wanna hurry up and go meet the new neighbors." Eep replied before her mother used the stick on her.

"Frankly I just wanna ignore them." muttered Grug before it was his turn. "Ugga are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I want us to make a good impression and show they're welcome here." she spoke while beating the dirt off him. "Meaning we all need to be on our best behavior, that means you too, mom."

"Why am I the one you always single out?"

"You know why." Ugga replied.

After the Crood family got cleaned they headed out. "I just don't know about this Ugga, these people, they're just so...weird. I don't think me and Chief have anything in common."

"That's not true, both of you seem like tough, and strong leaders for starters and You're both hunters."

"Oh yeah, because a real hunter needs to throw sticks." Grug grumbled.

After a bit of searching they soon arrived at their destination. They spotted numorus homes made from sticks and pelts with the residents moving about and more of the fire on small sticks stuck in the ground.

"Watch yourselves, we're in enemy territory." Gran whispered.

"Wow." spoke Thunk seeing all the various masks. "You know, in the daylight they don't seem all that scary."

"Don't drop your guard, they might use that to strike." whispered Gran.

"I don't know, they look more afraid of us then we are of them." Ugga said noticing how edgy they looked.

Eep was looking around diligently before spotting Willow, Chief, and pops sitting around a fire. "Ooh! Over there!"

"Ah, our fellow neighbors have arrived." smiled Willow while her husband tried to hide his displeasure. "Welcome to the camp of the Tenties." She greeted kindly.

"Is that what you call yourselves?" questioned Gran still on the defensive.

"Yes, is that a problem?" asked Chief. "You live in caves, we live in tents."

"Chief, behave." Pops spoke.

"It sounds very nice." spoke up Ugga quickly.

"Well it's not as sturdy as a cave but it's just as easy to move. Makes things easier when you've been wandering as long as we have." Willow said.

"So, where's Guy?" Eep asked.

"He went off for more firewood. But don't worry lunch is almost ready." said Willow gesturing to the fire where pieces of meat on sticks were over an open fire turning brown. "After it's done, your mouths will be screaming for joy." she said with a grin.

"Or probably from the bad taste, just look at it." muttered Grug with a grimace before Ugga elbowed him making him shut up quickly.

"I'm sure it tastes better than it looks." the cavewoman said.

"And….they're done." Pops said grabbing a stick. "Dig in."

The Croods reached down, most more hesitant and picked up sticks while Thunk was drooling from the smell.

He took a bite before his eyes widened. "Wooooah! It's an avalanche of flavor!" he cried before he started biting into it with gusto surprising his family.

Gran took a bite and in seconds she started tearing it apart. "Wow! Now that's pretty darn good!"

The rest followed suit and all but Grug hummed in satisfaction.

"This is amazing!" smiled Ugga while Sandy let out a sigh as she tried licking her bone clean. "It tastes like the usual meat, but it's so different at the same time."

"It's...okay." Grug said not wanting to sound impressed.

"Are you crazy! It feels like my mouth is getting all warm and tingly." smiled Eep eating the last bite. "Oohhhh, so good!"

"I feel like I could eat this forever and ever!" smiled Thunk with Sandy jumping over on him to try and munch on his stick. "Hey no! No Sandy, this is mine!"

The sight got a good laugh from the hosts.

"I gotta say, this meat is better than anything we've ever had before." remarked Ugga.

"Thank you," Willow said happily accepting the compliment. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"This is the power of fire, the power to warm up meat to the point it surpasses sheer raw meat." spoke Chief. "Yet it's full potential is still unknown even to us."

"Ah! Here comes Guy." smiled Willow with the boy walking over with his arms full of sticks. "Guy, our guests are here!"

"That's great to hear, sorry I couldn't be by earlier, had to get plenty of wood to keep the fire going." he said walking up, not noticing Eep looking at him.

"Well our guests have taken quite a liking to the meat from your first kill." Chief stated.

"Good to hear." Guy smiled handing the sticks to Pops who then placed them in the fire as his grandson sat next to him. "I'm just happy to finally be playing a part in the hunts."

"Well you've earned it son, after all you were going to participate eventually." smiled Pops. "You should be proud of yourself Guy."

"Well I'm definitely feeling it, I've even been working on something to make it extra easy. Some kind of tool with holes in it, but made of vines all tied togather and can even be thrown over the predators. I'm thinking of calling it...a net but I haven't tested it yet" he admitted with a smiled while Eep felt herself swoon which Grug took notice of and frowned.

"I'm sure it works fine m'boy.'

Sandy burped and licked the bone she had clean before looking over at Belt who moved off Guy's waist to grab some meat for himself.

"Pops, don't call him a boy, he's a man now after all." Spoke Chief as Sandy crawled to sneak up on the creature.

Belt himself smiled at the warm meat before getting a feeling that made him turn and saw Sandy moving towards him with a hungry glint. He gulped before ripping the meat in half and handed her some.

She looked confused at the gesture before biting into the meat with a growl and started tearing into it with gusto while Belt sighed in relief.

"How is guy a man?" Grug questioned "He looks like he can't be much older then my eldest daughter Eep here."

"Yeah, how does that work?" Asked Ugga.

"Well you see, Our people have what we call, A Right of Passage. A test to prove a boy can do things that benefit the group as a whole. Guy took the test yesterday and passed. At last night's ceremony it was made official. Just before you all showed up." Chief explained with a hint of disdain.

"So he's technically a man, even though he's still young?" asked Thunk looking lost.

"That's about right," Guy spoke. "and it's got its perks too, I can stay up as long as I want, hunt with the other men, and take a woman to be my wife."

Hearing that made Eep blush and look away which Grug didn't like one bit

"Are you sure you're ready for that?" Questioned Ugga. "Marriage is a big commitment."

"Well I'm not looking to get married yet, but now that I'm a man I'm gonna keep my eyes open now."

Grug couldn't help but sigh. 'Well that's a relief.'

"Hey, maybe you should go with Eep over here?" chuckled Gran. "She's a bit of a spitfire, but still a good catch."

"Gran!" spoke Eep with a blush and Grug with annoyance.

"What? Just poking a bit of fun." she chuckled while Ugga shook her head.

"Forgive my mom, she likes to stir up trouble."

"Heeheehee. I can relate." laughed Pops. "Nothing like scaring the young folk to keep them on their toes."

"Bear Owl!" called out one of the Tenties running up to the camp making them turn and see the animal running towards them with a roar.

"We gotta go, now!" Grug barked in fear as the Croods sprang up ready to run.

"No need to fear," spoke Chief quickly standing up and grabbed a stick from the fire. "We can take care of it!" He then charged towards the Bear Owl.

"Are you crazy? It'll eat you alive!" Grug shouted before noting others were following him. "Are you ALL insane?!"

"Hey at least they're the ones risking the hides instead of us." Gran shrugged.

"Maybe we should try and help them." suggested Eep.

"Don't worry Tiger girl we got this." Guy said with a confident smile before running to his family's tent and grabbed something. He came out with a cluster of vines tied together while the Bear Owl roared and tried swiping at nearby Tenties.

They barely avoided the attacks before throwing the flaming sticks at its face. It roared in pain and tried swiping at the flames.

"You're mine beast!" Chief bellowed. "Spear!" He yelled out before one of his men tossed him a pointed stick. He then tried jabbing at the animal in the side.

It yelped and jumped away in response. It saw Guy running towards it and narrowed it's eyes before Guy tossed the vines at the animal before it came unfurled. The creature was tangled in the mess of vines not long after.

"Yes! My net worked!"

"Bring it down!" Chief ordered before the men tossed vines with loops and tried pulling the creature down.

The Bear Owl roared and tried struggling against the binds, but it was pulled to the ground.

"No way!" Thunk let out while the other Croods were too shocked to speak.

"Hurry! Finish it!" Grug called.

Chief walked up to the creature as it looked up to him, teeth bared and anger in its eyes. "Your meat will not go to waste." he said raising the spear. But the creature didn't seem intimidated one bit. "Hmm. You have much courage to come here, especially with our numbers clear as the day." he lowered the spear before he took a knee and looked to creature in the eyes.

The Bear Owl growled at Chief with the human raising his hand out near it's head. The Croods watched with bated breath as he reached his hand down through the net and rubbed it's neck.

"Wow, even I'm not that crazy." muttered Gran before the Bear Owl froze and its eyes widened.

"Easy now." He said before watching the anger in its eyes slowly vanished. "Bring me some meat!"

Guy grabbed some meat on a stick before running over to them. "Here you go dad."

He took it and held it over the beasts nose. "Now then, take a whiff of this."

It narrowed it's eyes before sniffing at the meat and let out a growl of caution before Chief let it take a bite. When it did it's eyes widened.

"You like that huh?" he smiled while letting it bite into more of it. "You can get more of this you know, but only if you listen." He spoke and cut the vines.

"What are you doing?!" spoke Eep with Grug moving over and grabbing a rock.

Once the vines were cut the beast stood up before Chief tossed the meat in the air. It opened its mouth and gnashed at it before eating it with a purr.

"Good boy." he smiled before walking over and rubbed it's cheek. "It's okay now everyone!"

The tenties lowered their spears while the Croods were blown away.

"What just happened?" Asked Ugga.

"He's magic." Thunk smiled with a look of wonder in his eyes.

"Actually, he tamed it's heart." smiled Willow. "Once a creature feels comfortable and is fed it's wild tendencies tend to dull."

"Wow, that's amazing." smiled Eep before seeing Chief bring the beast closer.

"Come, he will not harm you."

Eep wanted to reach out, but her father pulled her away.

"I think we've had enough excitement for one day, we should be going."

"But dad, I wanna pet it."

"It's time to go Eep." He said hauling her on his shoulder.

"Dad!" she groaned before seeing Guy walk over with a smile.

"It was great having you all come over, maybe we can have it happen again some other day." Willow called out.

"We'd love that." Ugga called out before following Grug.

"Don't count on it." muttered Grug as the others followed away. "I told you they were weird Ugga."

"Oh come on Grug, sure they had some new stuff that we've never seen before, but it wasn't too bad. A little off, but…. Okay the bear owl thing was new."

"See? Anything that's new like that can't be good." He stated firmly.

"What about the time we made naps?" asked Thunk.

"Well, ok that was new, but it was very helpful and didn't endanger us. But all that fire, that 'net', and feeding a Bear Owl up close? We're just lucky we left before they got us all killed."

"Dad can you put me down now?"

"Only after we get back to the cave and after you forget about that weird boy, I noticed how you kept staring at him."

"Uuuugh!" she groaned.

"Sounds like Eeps got another crush." spoke Thunk with a gulp. "Maybe we should have her sleep outside."

"Relax Thunk, it's the first crush that's most dangerous, any others after are much more minor." spoke Ugga. "It was the same with me and Snort Slag."

"Who?"

"Exactly."


End file.
